Stuff-compressing machine



Mam 20), R923 A. GREMAUD ET AL.`

STUFF COMPRESSING MACHINE FiledvDec. 22, 1920 Wma@ A Try,

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Patented .it/lar. 2Q, 1923.

STUFF-COMPRESSING 'MACHINE Application led December 22, 192).

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lrnown that we, AUGUSTE GnnrvrAUD and EDOUARD ViLAIN, the first a citizen of the Helvetic Confederation, and the second 5 a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Marseille, in the Republic of France, have invented new and useful Improvements in Stuff-Compressing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in compressing machines, and more particu larly to machines of the class used in manufacturing pharmaceutical, chemical and edible products by compressing a pulverized, granular or pasty material into the form of tablets, the object of the invention being to provide an improved machine of this character which is simple in construction, and very eiicient and reliable in operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features of construction and combination of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a vertical, longitudinal section of a machine constructed in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof. The same characters of reference designate the same parts in the different figuresv of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a casing in which the rotatable elements are carried.

A shaft 2 is mounted for rotation in the side walls of the casing, said shaft having secured at one end thereof outside of the casing a iy wheel 18 and at the opposite end a driving pulley 19. Vilithin the casing, the shaft 2 carries an eccentric cam 4: and

a pair of eccentrics 3, one at each side of the cam, said cam being in the form of a cylinder truncated in the direction of its length, as shown in Fig. 1. rThe casing 1 is provided with an eXtension 1a, projecting laterally from said casing, said extension being provided with a pair of transverse walls 1b and 1c thereby to form within the extension a pair of recesses or cylinders, one at each end thereof, for the reception of a pair of sliding members or pistons 7 and 8,

l eachof which carries a plunger, 9 and 10 Serial No. 432,448.

respectively, said plungers being in alignment and extending toward each other and guided in the transverse walls 1b and 1c of the casing extension 1a. The piston 7 is provided with an anti-friction roller 6 in contact with the cam Ll, while the piston 8 is connected with the eccentrics 3 by means of a pair of connecting rods 5, each having at one end a sleeve portion 5 encircling its respective eccentric. rlhe cam and eccentrics 3 are so disposed and formed that they reach their maximum eccentricity at the same time. Between the transverse walls 11 and 1", the casing extension 1n is provided with a third wall l, in which is supported a matrix 11 having a central opening in axial alignment with the plungers 9 and 10 for receiving the ends of said plungers. The wall 1d is spaced sufliciently far from the walls 11D and 1C to form at one side of the wall ld a feeding chamber or port 14 and at the other side a delivery chamber or port 15, the lower end of the chamber 14. being closed by a removable bottom plate 1G forming a trap, whereby all of the material remaining in the chamber after the operation of the machine ceases, may be removed.

ln order to ensure the constant contact of the roller G with the cam 4 and at the same time maintain the ends of the pistons 9 and 10 the proper distance apart at all times, the piston 8 is formed with an interior chamber within which is carried a slidable member 12, which is actuated by a coiled springl supported on an inwardly extending boss formed on the end wall of said chamber'. A. pair of push rods 17 are slidably carried by the casing 1a, each having one end engaging the piston 7 and its opposite end passing through the end wall of the piston 8 and engaging the slidable member 12.

The operationv of the machine is as follows:

Power may bel applied to the pulley 19 from any suitable source of power for driving` the shaft 2. F or each revolution of the shaft 2, the plungers 9 and 10 are reciprocated one complete stroke by means of the cam 4c and eccentrics 3 and their connections. Assuming the position of the. parts at the beginning of the operation to be as shown in the drawings, and the direction ofrotation of the shaft to be toward the left, it will be seen that with the diameter c-a, in horizontal position the plunger 9 occupies about one-half of the length of the matrix 11, while the plunger 10 is just entering said matrix. lff the shaft be now rotated through an angular distance of the diameter bwill be horizontal and the roller 6 will be in conta-ct with the flat portion of the cam 4, so that the plunger 9 will be in its extreme retracted position, while plunger 10 will be at its extreme extended position. ln passing to this position, however, while the plunger 10 has continuously progressed, the plunger 9, owing to thek shape of the cam 4, has been held more or less stationary, so that while the ends of both plungers are `within the matrix the space 20 between said ends is decreased thereby compressing any material that is Confined in saidspace, and upon the sudden passage of the roller G from the curved to the flat surface of the cam 4, the space 20 becomes wider and reaches its maximum width when the point d of the shaft is nearest the i'oller 6, at 4which time the end of the plunger 9 has been retracted s o as to be approximately flush with the surf face of the wall 1b, while the plunger 10 has beenA extended so as to be flush with` the rear end of the matrix, thereby pushing the compressedA tabletinto the chamber '15. Upon the. next angular movement of the shaft 2 through a distance of 90o, that is, la distance -suflicient to carry the diameter a-c into horizontal position, with the point c nearest the` roller 6, the opposite operation from that just described takes place, namely, the plunger 10 is continuously retracted within the matrix while the plunger 9 is suddenly extended toward the plunger 10, thereby again reducing the width of the space 20 until the two plungers are again in the position shown in the drawings. Upon the next angular movement of-9OO, which carries the diameter cil-Zi into horizontal position, with the point b nearest the roller 6, the plunger 10 is completely withdrawn from the matrix 11 and retracted until it is approximately iush with the Surface of the wall l, and the plunger 9 is extended slightly into lthe chamber 14, at which time the distance between the ends of the plungers is again increased to its maximum. Upon the next angular-movement of 90, which brings the diameter o a into horizontal position, with the point a; nearest the roller 6, the plungers are brought to the position shown in the drawings, the plunger 9 having during its retracting movement created a partial vacuum. in thematrix aii'dthereby sucked in material Vfrom the chainber'QO, which material is compressed' between thetwo plungersA during the next angularjmovement of 90, as

hjerfeiiib'efore'described# It "will be understood, ofcourse, that duri-ngthe operation ,or .uref maenner-teaming V@hamer vii is meteeastaanvsiiedfwah the material t@ be @empates-ea.- ufiag 'the @ramingmovements of the plunger 9, the spring 13 is coin-v pressed by means of the slide rods 17, so that when said plunger has reached its limit of extension, the spring acts to cause retraction thereof with the roller (S in contact with the surface of the cam 4.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that if the chamber 14 is kept supplied with material during operation of the machine, such material will be automatically carried into the matrix between the plungers 9 and 10 and thereby compressed into tablets, which tablets are discharged into the chamber y15, when they may be removed either by gravity or by any suitable mechanism provided for'` that purpose.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A compressing machine, comprisin,D combination, a casing, a matrix secured within said casing, saidicasing having a feeding chamber at one sider of the matrix anda delivery chamber at vthe opposite side thereof, a pair of aligned plungers carried, by said casing and extending toward each other, and means for reciprocating said plungers through said chambers and matrix both in the saine direction but at vdifferent speeds and with their opposed ends spaced apart, the distance betweensaid ends being at its maximum within the chambers and at its minimum within the matrix.

2. A compressing machine, comprising, in combination, a casing, a matrix secured within said casing, said casing having av feeding chamber at one side of the matrix and a delivery chamber at the opposite side thereof, a pair of aligned plungers carried by "said casing and extending toward each other, said plungers being adapted to. be moved together in the same direction, apiston carried by each of said plungers and reciprocable within said casing, a rotatable shaft, a pair of ecceiitrics carried by said shaft and connected with one of said pistons for reciprocating the same, a cam carried by the shaft for moving the other piston in one direction, and means carried by the first piston, for maintaining the second piston, inV contact with its cam thereby to move it in the opposite direction.

8. A compressing machine, comprising, yin combination, a casing, a matrix secured within said casing, said casing having. a feeding chamber at one side o-f the matrix and a delivery chamber at the opposite side thereof, a pair or aligned plungers' carried by said casing aiidextendin'g toward each other, said plungers being adaptedV to be moved together in both directions,a piston carried by each of said rplungersai'id reciprocable within said casing, a rotatable shaft, means carried by said shaft .for reciprocating lone v.of said pistons, means carried .bythe Shale- I moving the other pistiiiii one blirection, and flexible means for moving said last piston in the opposite direction.

4. A compressing machine, comprising, in combination, a casing, a matrix secured Within said easing, said casing having a feeding chamber at one side of the matrix and a delivery chamber at the opposite side thereof, a pairof aligned plungers carried by said casing and extending toward each other, said plungers being adapted to be moved together in both directions, a piston carried by each of said plungers and reoiprocable Within said casing, a rotatable shaft, means carried by said shaft for reciprocating one of said pistons, means carried by the shaft for 15 names to this specification.

AUGUSTE GREMAUD. EDOUARD VILAIN.

Witnesses:

EUGENE UEMAREAU, JAMES J. FINLEY. 

